COST 342 - Co-operation in the Field of Scientific and Technical Research
An EU programme for recording and reviewing the effects of European parking concepts on mobility and the economy.
With the COST 342 action programme set up in 1999 the European Union aims to create a kind of user’s manual for a pragmatic parking policy in European cities. It is a joint action by transport scientists, politicians and urban planners. The EPA is represented by two board members. The findings of COST 342 will provide EPA members with: crucial indications of future transport policy developments in a unified Europe; start up and integration help for internationalising their business activity; and backup for arguing their case in the dialogue with politicians and planners.
Up to now eighteen countries have joined in this initiative. Among them are :
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Norway, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom.
A management committee is preparing an overview of the various parking concepts in Europe on the basis of a market research study. It will evaluate the data obtained, analyse it and then draw up guidelines for a practical parking policy.
Three teams will initially view the results of the inventory from the individual countries and prepare a three-phase programme.
Phase 1:
This stage will develop a catalogue with comparable criteria to present and analyse the respective parking policies and their effects;
to obtain data on parking policy measures and their positive and negative effects on traffic.
Phase 2:
After the definition of terms prepared in phase 1, which will allow the data found to be cored, every country delegation involved will take stock of the measures taken in up to 10 cites over the past 10 to 15 years. Identifying the interplay between political ideas, the measures decided upon and the results of their implementation will be of particular importance.
Phase 3:
The subsequent analysis of the measures described is expected to provide ideas on the possible effects of such parking policies and the measures resulting from them for future reference.
The research findings will be condensed into a report, presented at national and international conferences and further discussed in workshops. One important objective of the COST project is to publicise the results in trade magazines and trade association journals, through speeches in front of professional audiences and in other publications.
With their work the initiators of the COST 342 programme intend to give practical advice to national governments and local authorities, providing them with a sounder basis security for solving their own traffic problems.
The European Parking Association (EPA) is an associated organisation in the COST 342 project. EPA has developed “Parking Guidelines” which are part of the official COST paper.
Find more information about COST 342 under http://www.cordis.lu/cost-transport/src/cost-342.htm.
EPA URBAN PARKING POLICY GUIDE LINES
Statement for COST 342 Download this paper
Parking policy contributes to solving urban traffic problems
Despite the introduction of management measures, car use is generally expected to increase during the next few decades, especially with regard to the demand for access to the inner city areas generated by consumers and visitors. The current trend related to urban mobility strategies is directed at limiting car access to city centres. To achieve this goal it is necessary to increase public transport capacity greatly and, at the same time offer a higher quality service. Overall accessibility to city centres by all modes must be increased for economic prosperity and policies must recognise the need for an overall balance between all the modes.
If the intended goals of modal split are not achieved, the inevitable result will be that a growing number of cars will put cities under increasing pressure. Without integrated transport system management and adequate technical facilities to regulate traffic and parking, our city centres will suffocate. This will damage the city's overall environment and the economic viability of the city centre.
The solution to this complex issue - i.e. how to ensure that cities have the necessary degree of accessibility, in both quality and quantity, while maintaining an acceptable urban environment -lies in sustainable transport policies that include the introduction of an integrated parking policy together with a well-equipped and efficient public transport system. Parking policies are integral to this as they can have a direct effect on traffic movement and the degree of penetration by traffic into inner city areas.
Traffic measures such as giving priority to public transport and closing off sections of the city centre for non-authorised vehicles will only be successful if accompanied by adequate parking facilities in suitable locations, ideally adjacent to the pedestrian or limited access zones; if service vehicles for shops and businesses are allowed the necessary access for operational purposes; and if the alternative forms of access are sufficient in both quality and quantity.
Parking policies, like all other transport policies provide a compromise between freedom of movement, accessibility and quality of life. Parking is not an end in itself, however, and is always derived from some other need. Therefore parking should be an integral part of any city's policy on mobility and accessibility.
Integrated Mobility Policy based on Sustainable Mobility
Sustainable Mobility is the degree of balance which assures a sufficient level of service, in both quality and quantity, which, all other things being equal, can be continued into the indefinite future, and which is made up of the following different major elements all of which are interdependent:
Parking
Public Transport
Road Infrastructure
Land use changes
Parking
Parking and Parking management is an essential component and asset of urban mobility. It is a service that is a necessary compliment to public transport and not a substitute.
The balance between parking availability, traffic flow and quality of life, however, varies between city and city as each has conditions of its own which influence the choice for the most appropriate
Within this, parking is a “service product” that must address the needs of different types of motorists including the following:
Fun shoppers and run shoppers
Visitors/Tourists
Residents
Commuters
Deliveries
Disabled parking
Taxis
Special permits e.g. medical assistance, craftsmen
Hospital-, School- and University- Parking
Airport-Parking
Event-Parking
Park and Ride
Hotels and more.
The parking solutions to meet these needs are just as varied:
On-street parking
Off-street parking
Multi-storey car parks
Underground car parks
Common to these varied aspects is an integrated concept for general traffic management and infrastructure, which is based on a balance between quantity, quality and convenience.
EPA is not expert in the field of public transport but we consider public transport as an important component that contributes to an integrated solution for mobility in the city. Public transport is not, however, a stand alone solution. It is one of the alternatives that contributes to the creation of sustainable mobility.
As part of their overall management of mobility, city managers must decide on their policies towards the city centre and how to achieve them. This in turn is depends on the historical development of the urban fabric and its road system, which is frequently in conflict with the needs of a modern world. Optimal utilisation of existing roads can make it necessary to replace on-street with off-street parking, to limit access to pedestrians and cyclists or to allow motor vehicles access.
Means to improve Parking and Traffic
At least 90% of a car’s life is spent parked, in various places. Effective parking management, then, can reduce inner city congestion and consequently air and other environmental pollution.
Traffic searching for on-street parking places is a frequent cause on unnecessary inner city traffic and hence congestion. As long as on-street parking is unregulated, free of charge or too cheap, motorists searching for parking spaces causing “search traffic” will remain. The right level of on-street parking fee, set by the market to ensure that there are always a few spaces available (or set to achieve about 85% occupancy) will eliminate this “search traffic” without significantly affecting the number of cars parked.
The elimination of free or unregulated on-street parking and the substitution of paid on-street parking by of off-street parking reduces search traffic and gives the opportunity to give road space back to pedestrians or non-motorised traffic and progressively justify public transport increase.
Considerations for on-street parking generally can be:
Dedicate on-street parking only to „run-shoppers“ or short stay clients for limited periods, for example max. 30 min.
Make on-street parking more expensive than off-street parking
Encourage residents to park off-street
Locate disabled parking facilities on-street
Make illegal parking physically impossible (where this can be achieved)
Strictly enforce on-street parking regulations
Parking Management
The provision of parking spaces alone does not suffice. They also need to be professionally managed otherwise controlled parking will not contribute to overall urban mobility. Parking management is a combination of different components. Each of them is necessary to achieve good parking quality and to improve inner city traffic.
The need for high quality of multi-storey car parks, underground car parks and other parking lots is taken as read. Poor quality parking facilities can never be sufficiently attractive to motorists however cheap or well located they may be. This quality is, therefore, essential to the quality of a city. Instead, we have emphasised the policy aspects of parking space management and parking price policy. This includes, in particular:
Pricing for on-street parking
Pricing for off-street parking
Fines for illegal parking
Enforcement
Marketing
Communication
In view of the limited number of parking spaces in cities, parking space on public roads has to be managed. The demand for parking space is determined primarily by the character of the motorists’ destinations: urban shopping centres, business and administrative areas, leisure activity centres, services, transport interchanges etc. Parking charges can influence the users’ choice of the transport mode and the duration of the stay. However, they are dependent on the quality of the destination area and the relationship between the parking supply and demand. Wherever policies of reducing parking charges, with the aim of increasing retail activity, have been tried, these have been unsuccessful. Indeed, in many cases such polices have had the opposite effect of increasing “search traffic” and reducing the attractiveness of the shopping area. Employees have occupied parking spaces previously used by shoppers and retail turnover has decreased.
There have been a number of studies in various countries and cities (including the German Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen - Federal Institute for Road Systems - published in the year 2000) on this issue. The opinion of many politicians and retailers that the decrease in the number of visitors to the inner cities is the result of high (or, indeed, any) parking fees has been disproved. The analysis concludes that the effectiveness of parking fees as an instrument in controlling parking space demand is clearly limited if the price is not right and the time restrictions are not applied. A number of case studies on this point are included in the annexe to this paper.
However, only cities with a high inner-city quality and good alternative forms of accessibility can afford to restrict accessibility by car. As overall access must be maintained, without these prerequisites, good access by car and parking is essential. Those cities which have accepted this point, should have the courage to assure the provision of the necessary infrastructures to satisfy the consequent strategy.
Off-street parking facilities can be provided in the form of car parks above ground, underground car parks or parking lots. It is not important here whether these shall be used as public or dedicated spaces. The crucial point is that economic principles are observed here. The economic return from the “parking product” offered is conditioned by the “type” of the particular parking demand.
When a parking facility is not economically viable it should not necessarily automatically be ruled out, as the lack of economic viability may be the direct result of local policies, such as on parking charges. Support to the car park through public land availability, low interest loans or subsidies are options, as are increasing fees or even deciding that the car park is not needed. Evidence shows that the motorist is prepared to pay an appropriate parking fee if in turn he receives good-quality service and it is possible for him to park the car close to his desired destination. The present technical status of the development of parking equipment permits differentiated fee structures, which makes it possible to meet the large variety of demands of the customers and of the commercial activities.
Parking in off-street car parks can be environment-friendly and city-compatible in that it contributes to urban renewal programs.
An efficient traffic and parking space policy also requires consistent monitoring and enforcement of the laws and other regulations for the control of parking and moving traffic. The primary objective of this is to ensure that proper regulations, and hence, traffic management policies are complied with. It should not be the primary objective of enforcement to increase the municipal revenues.
Operational efficiency and financial considerations in controlling parking traffic can justify contracting out some or most of this activity to private parking operators.
Fines for illegal parking combined with a high chance of being caught must be set to have a high deterrent effect. They should be so high that nobody accepts the risk and leaves it to chance whether he is caught. This is not always the case. For example, in the city of Dresden in Germany, the penalty for overstaying the parking time purchased at a parking vending machine is DM 30.00, whereas the penalty for those not purchasing a ticket at all is only DM 10.00.
Parking management finally also includes informing the motorist on:
the location of the car parks,
the occupancy rate,
their accessibility and connection to important visitor destinations,
directions signs to, in and from car parks,
the opening hours,
the number of parking spaces available for disabled persons,
the parking fees for short-term parkers, long-term parkers, residents, evening and nightly rates and on daily, monthly and yearly rates,
possibilities of payment such as by cash or cashless by credit card, debit card, transponder or mobile phone and automatic debit transfer.
Suitable media for this are parking-guide systems, visitor brochures, city maps highlighting parking opportunities, newspaper articles, ads, notices in car parks, information published via radio, TV and the internet.
Today a variety of technical equipment and tools are available for efficient parking management:
Cashless payment
Contactless payment
Contactless access and exit
On-street parking payment by mobile phone
Parking space reservation systems
Occupancy information via Internet
Parking guidance systems
Multi-use of parking facilities
The European Parking Association
The approx. 3,000 member operations of the 19 associations from 18 European countries associated under the EPA manage more than 2.7 million parking spaces in more than 8,500 car parks and underground car parks and many millions of on-street spaces. Many positive and negative examples concerning parking strategy choices and professional management policies and results are available from the EPA experience. The parking industry has grown in Europe into an important economic sector, in terms of both the industry itself and also for the economic effects in each individual city and at each place where parking management is provided. The economic value of the industry is estimated today to be approx. 5 billion Euro. Thousands of jobs are linked to the parking business, in just the private and public sector parking operators. The numbers are increased significantly if there are added those in the peripheral parking industry and in the relevant service companies such as:
the manufacturers of car park management equipment,
building contractors,
planning and architectural firms,
manufacturers of ventilation and fire protection equipment ,
manufacturers of coin and banknote testing equipment,
cleaning companies,
sign manufacturers, painting companies,
floor coating companies,
manufacturers of video- and other monitoring systems,
printing shops
bailiffs and debt collectors etc.
Political decisions on questions of urban transport policy always also have economic effects which have to be taken into account by those involved in transport policy making.
Résumé:
Parking does not increase the “urban traffic problem”, rather it is part of the solution. Key points in maximising the impact of parking policies are:
Parking policies should be seen as an integral part of cities’ overall transport strategies
Parking charges do not have a significant effect on local economic activity – motorists would prefer to have a parking space at a high cost than no parking space at all
Overall accessibility to a city centre and the quality and range of activities in the city centre are more important for economic vitality
Parking policies should encourage off-street parking in preference to on-street parking
Good enforcement of parking regulations is essential
High quality parking facilities are essential
Different cities will require different policies
Final note:
The annexe to this paper includes a number of case studies from different European cities:
Parking in Barcelona – The Mobility Pact
Parking in the city – Sustainable Mobility
Parking in the city of Rome
On street parking regulations and enforcement in London
Free parking on Saturdays and Sundays in Oslo
Free Parking on Saturdays in a German city
Parking fee reduction in Herford
Negative effects of reduced parking fees in Germany
Results of parking fee increase in Appeldoorn in municipal car parks
Mobility card in Saarbrücken
Research into the effects of parking behaviour as result of changes in parking fee policy in a medium sized Dutch city
Experiences in creating new off-street car parking facilities in the city centre
European Parking Association
February 2001
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